ANGEL AND FAITH SEASON 10 #5: My final issue. I’m just not interested any more.

AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS #5

BATMAN ETERNAL #18

BUNKER #5

DETECTIVE COMICS #34: My final issue. I enjoyed some of the art (and jumped back on Detective because of the hype around the creators’ work on Flash), but the whole experience has been just ok.

EARTH 2 #26

FAIREST #28

GRAYSON #2

GREEN LANTERN #34: My final issue (boy, that’s starting to sound a bit repetitious, huh?). I really enjoy Venditti’s work elsewhere, but I just haven’t been having fun like I used to when reading this title.

LAZARUS #10

MOON KNIGHT #6: With Ellis and Shavley gone after this issue, so am I.

NEW 52 FUTURES END #14

NEW AVENGERS #22

SIP (STRANGERS IN PARADISE) KIDS #1: I normally don’t care for the whole Lil’ trend that’s been chutes and laddering through comics lately, but it’s Terry Moore doing new SiP stuff, and how cute will Katchoo be in this, c’mon!

SQUIDDER #2

STAR TREK NEW VISIONS: TIMES ECHO: I have been really enjoying these Trek “photonovel” comics.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Well, this movie was pretty much what I was expecting, and a little of what I wasn’t. First off, I was turned off by all of the trailers. In fact, each succeeding trailer just made me think that this movie was going to be juvenile. It was the focus on the humor, which I think was intended as self-deprecating, but it just annoyed me (Mr. Gunn, sir, you are no Joss Whedon). However, while many of the laugh lines were predictable, I still found myself laughing out loud during many scenes (usually involving Rocket or Drax).

In fact, a lot of this movie was really predictable, but despite that it was fun to watch. I thought that Rocket and Groot would tie Peter Quill for Most Annoying character, but I grew to like all of the central characters (it was a good thing they gave Peter some depth, but even that was predictable), more or less. In fact, it has always struck me odd that Marvel and Disney would put so much behind this concept (they’ve already greenlit a sequel and will be airing an animated series). At first I thought it was too limited, but after talking with some people, I see that perhaps this was a brilliant move on those companies’ parts: with no strings attached (other than some characters from other Marvel movies having brief appearances), it allows people to just enjoy the film for its own virtues and characters and not some perceived connection to Iron Man, or Thor, or Captain America (though, as my wife quipped, this movie seemed more like a retelling of Serenity).

I did enjoy the special effects, even if the look of the film was a little too clean compared to the grittiness it tried to convey. While I disagree with my granddaughter’s desire to buy the movie, it’s definitely worth checking out when released to streaming or DVD.

Other thoughts:

I found Peter’s songs pulled me out of the narrative, and they were more distracting than endearing.

I find it interesting that Zoe Seldana is now part of two major franchises, both in the sci-fi realm.

I love Lee Pace, but as Ronan? He came off a little too much like Christian Bale as Batman at times.

Which Infinity stone was that, exactly?

Speaking of Infinity stones, didn’t some Asgardians drop off one to the Collector in Thor, the Dark World? Considering what happened with the Collector in this series, why isn’t he more concerned?

Speaking of the Collector, I loved the Russian cosmodog. Also, what the hell end of the movie? Is James Gunn a fan of Steve Gerber’s?

Why does James Gunn always have to hire his brother?

Why couldn’t Nathan Fillion have a bigger role?

Karen Gillen was wasted in this role, OR she was not right for the part–I can’t decide.

Why the hell was Glen Close in this movie? Is she a fan?

I liked how the first question I had at the start of the film was answered near the end of the film (why Yondu took Peter to begin with).